


Unbridled Rose

by MRJDJCJ7DNCT



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Business man Jeno, Cupid Jaemin, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Might Add More Tags In The Future, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Secret Relationship, artist renjun, not fantasy, rating for profanities and drinking, sexual orientation prejudice does not exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-10 01:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18928831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MRJDJCJ7DNCT/pseuds/MRJDJCJ7DNCT
Summary: Things didn’t work out for them during high school. Now, five years later, will fate (and Jaemin) be able to bring them together to give love a second chance?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! This is my first AU, I just had to write it because I love Noren so much! I hope it’s to your liking!

The phone sitting on the wooden bedside table plays a tune of birds causing the figure sleeping on the bed to stir. Now rudely awake, the irritated young adult exposes one arm out from the comfort of his blanket to grope the wooden furniture blindly in search for the device to turn off the offending sound. The cute melody of birdsong used to be such a joy to wake up to, but it’s been a few months and he thinks it’s time to change it before he decides to throw his phone the next time. With his phone in hand, and birds silenced, he brings his hand back under the covers. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances at his phone screen to see the time. 9:01AM. He sighs in self inflicted misery, why did he have to watch the last two episodes of that crazy drama? He can only blame himself for sleeping at such an ungodly hour last night. 

The comfort of his bed was making it really hard to be productive so before he could change his mind, he peels back his blanket to expose his pajama clad body to the cool air of the air conditioner. His body breaks into goosebumps and he is suddenly not sleepy anymore.

After he’s dressed and finished with his morning routines, Renjun shuffles around his studio apartment, picking up whatever he needed to bring with him for the day and stuffs them into his black backpack. After drinking a glass of water, he was out the door. He walks to the subway station down the block and rides the line that takes him to Gangnam station. At around eleven o’clock, the subway train arrives at his destination. Renjun gets off and stretches his limbs stiffened by an hour of sitting and sighs in relief. He walks out of the station and makes his way to the park he frequents. 

The lush green park, in the distance, almost looks out of place being surrounded by countless man made structures and concrete. As Renjun turned the corner, he sees it, sitting at the end of the street and the earthy sweet scents of grass and flowers brings a smile to his boyish face. He sees his favorite chain bakery and goes in to grab something to eat. 

He sits down on a wooden bench bordering the gazebo that overlooks a wide grassy field and the Han River. The weather was beautifully sunny with a slight summer breeze and the temperature is just cool enough for him to sit outside without breaking into a sweat, but the sun is already high in the sky so he puts on his black baseball cap to shield his face from the UV rays. He takes out his sketchbook and pencil case, puts on his earphones and began to sketch. 

Renjun is a freelancing graphics design and illustration artist, and has been making a living off of his freelancing work for the past year. He’s been going to this park ever since the beginning and believes the location to be his lucky charm that accounts for the success of his many projects. He’s currently sketching out animals to add to his library for future illustrations. The artist had gotten quite good at drawing squirrels and pigeons that lives in the park. 

Renjun’s forehead is glistening with sweat as the temperature rises and he thinks he’ll sweat through his clothes if he stays any longer. He packs up and checks his watch and decides to go to his favorite corner cafe nearby for lunch and probably work there for the rest of the afternoon. A message notification pings from his phone on his way to the cafe, and he opens the app to see a message from his best friend.

 

[12:52 PM]

**Hyuckie** : Hey shorty ;) you coming to the reunion right?

 

Renjun thinks his friend had lost it, he should know better than to send a short joke to him.

 

[12:53 PM]

**Renjun <3** : you better watch your back because I’ll be coming just to sock you in the face ;D 

**Renjun <3** : call me short ONE. More time

 

[12:54 PM]

**Hyuckie** : my face is a work of art and you told me once you would rather go to jail than ruin one ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

Renjun couldn’t believe this loon, flabbergasted, his fingers furiously tap over the keyboard to give him a piece of his mind. Winning an argument with Hyuck is as unlikely as winning an arm wrestling match against Jaemin, but that doesn’t stop him from trying every single time. He arrives at the entrance of the coffee shop, the door suddenly swings open and he steps aside for the person to walk out. His eyes and hands still glued to the phone, he walks into the cafe when he sensed that the guy was holding the door for him. He doesn’t bother raising his head to look at the well mannered stranger, but mumbles out a quick gratitude so he wouldn’t seem like a complete asshole. 

“Mark Hyung!”

He hears the stranger call out to the man across the street before the glass door closes. 

It takes a couple of seconds before renjun registers the familiar voice. His fingers stills as his eyes went wide in recognition. He turns around so fast he was mildly afraid of getting whiplash. Through the glass doors, he sees that the stranger was still standing outside, his dark brown hair rustling in the summer breeze as he waves his hand at someone across the intersection. Renjun’s heart skips a beat and his breath catches, because he knows the figure behind those glass doors. 

 

**< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<——**

  
  


> “Hi, I’m Jaemin’s friend, Lee Jeno,” The boy in front of him said charmingly while giving that famous eye smile. Renjun looked at his perfect white teeth, and wondered why the guy felt the need to introduce himself. It’s not like he lived under a rock, who didn’t know Lee Jeno in this school? He mentally rolled his eyes before responding, “Hi, uh, I’m Huang Renjun,” he said and felt the urge to run away for sounding so intimidated. He cleared his throat to mask his embarrassment and favored his attention to the boy next to Jeno, “So, what’s this about, Jaemin?” 
> 
> The boy in question slung an arm over Jeno’s shoulder and his face bloomed into a wide grin that made renjun genuinely wonder if having perfect teeth is a requirement for the wealthy. Suddenly feeling self conscious, his lips tightened in front of his imperfect teeth and felt the pressure of his snaggletooth on his bottom lip. He has other things to worry about though, because Jaemin only smiled like that when he had an ulterior motive. 
> 
> “Injun-ah, Jeno here needs a tutor for chemistry,” the grinning boy said before pouting his lips at Jeno, as if he’s pitiful, “you see, he gets perfect scores on every subject but the universe decided to play fair and didn’t make him perfect in  _ every  _ aspect,” The corners of Renjun’s lips twitched at jeno’s eye roll, “He needs extra help and I know you’re like related to Albert Einstein or something—,” Renjun rolled his eyes this time. “—So, he needs your brilliance for the chem final.” Jaemin continued, unbothered by his friends’ eyeball movements. 
> 
> Renjun stared at Jaemin as if he had grown two heads, does he not know how awkward Huang Renjun is? He folded his arm across his chest and bit his bottom lip before giving a pointed look at his friend. The taller boy saw his body language and knew he’s about to reject the idea, so he quickly threw bait before renjun had the chance to respond. “Jeno says he can buy you that fancy drawing tablet for you if you agreed,” He spilled out with a wink, “it’s a win win situation.”
> 
> Renjun saw the fleeting glare Jeno shot at their friend before bobbing his head and his lips thinned out to a strained smile, “yup, anything you want. Please help me out?” He sounded desperate. 
> 
> Renjun was not by any means a cold hearted person, so he would have agreed to help (eventually) even without a bribe, but he was also not going to pass up on a free drawing tablet. “So if I can help you get full marks on the chem final, you’ll get me a drawing tablet? The one I want is, like, around a million won you know?” His eyes darted suspiciously between the two second years. 
> 
> “Yes if you help me, I promise I won’t even ask you to return it if I don’t get full marks.” The raven haired student reassured renjun. 
> 
> He did feel a bit guilty for accepting a bribe but it’s not like Jeno’s family wasn’t one of the elite families of the academy. Renjun reassured himself that a million won would just be pocket change for them and stopped himself from feeling like he was ripping this guy off. 
> 
> “Deal.” 
> 
> Jeno’s eyes lit up before curving into crescent moons as his whole face bloomed into his signature smile, “thank you!” The shorter boy’s heart skipped a beat, and his face flushed instantly with embarrassment. Jeno extended out his hand, “let’s shake on it,” and renjun subconsciously wiped his palm against his slacks before taking the larger hand into his. “Nice to meet you, by the way, Renjun.” The red faced boy quickly nodded in agreement before releasing his hand. 

  
  


**—— >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>**

  
  


Nostalgia had hit him like a truck from suddenly seeing the boy that had captured his heart six years ago. His fingers mindlessly peel at the sticker label on his cup of iced lemon tea as his mind digs out his high school memories, his eyes looking far away into his past. A loud ping from his phone brings him back to reality. 

 

[1:06 PM]

**Hyuckie** : IM KIDDING. YOU KNOW I AM KIDDING. I LOVE YOU

**Hyuckie** : STOPP YOU KNOW I HATE THE SILENT TREATMENT ㅠㅠ

 

For a second there, renjun couldn’t recall why Hyuck was being so dramatic. He shakes his head to ground himself to the present, and cleared his unfinished paragraph of playful insults. 

 

[1:07 PM]

**Renjun <3** : sorry. I forgot about you...

 

[1:07 PM]

**Hyuckie** : WTF man! That HURT

 

[1:07 PM]

**Renjun <3** : it’s what you get for calling me the S word. 

 

[1:08 PM]

**Hyuckie** : Ok, I’m letting that one go for now. 

**Hyuckie** : but serious Junnie I’ll drag you to the reunion if you don’t come. 

 

Renjun sends a quick reply to console his friend and that he will go to the reunion. He reopens the email that he got earlier today and checks the details of the meetup. Apparently this reunion is not an official school reunion, but an invitation only meet up. The email was sent by Hwang Hyunjin, someone he couldn’t quite recall. Renjun furrows his brows in thought and somehow remembers that he was one of Jaemin’s classmates that used to hang around him all the time. That doesn’t explain why he invited him when they were barely acquaintances. Hyunjin wouldn’t remember him, they weren’t even classmates. 

 

[1:12 PM]

**My Injunie** : Hey

**My Injunie** : About that reunion, why did Hyunjin invite me? We didn’t even talk to each other in school. 

 

[1:15 PM]

**Jaem** : Oh the SMA reunion?

**Jaem** : Hyunjin actually asked me to add to the list of people he wanted to invite since I knew like everyone (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

**Jaem** : you better go Injunie~  it’s going to be so much fun! He booked the whole center for the night so we can do whatever we want~ ٩( ᐛ )و

 

[1:16 PM]

**My Injunie** : Hyuck already gave me the ‘you better go’ talk thank you very much 

**My Injunie** : btw how’s the cafe going?

 

[1:17 PM]

**Jaem** : the grand opening day has been decided already! It’s going to be so beautiful Injunie! I’m gonna tell you the date at the reunion ;)

**Jaem** : and I can’t stop looking at the logo too! It’s so perfect! All thanks to you <3<3

 

[1:19 PM]

**My Injunie** : anytime Jaem. 

**My Injunie** : not free, of course. I’m not gonna starve for you. 

 

[1:19 PM]

**Jaem** : LOL you better start coming to my cafe instead of that corner coffee shop! (⁎⁍̴̆Ɛ⁍̴̆⁎)

**Jaem** : I’m giving you a one year free pass ;)

 

[1:20 PM]

**My Injunie** : What am I gonna do? Say no? 

 

[1:20 PM]

**Jaem** : HA! Alright talk to you later~ (*´∇｀*)

 

He checks the date and location and his eyes widened in surprise at where the reunion would be held. It’s going to be in one of the largest entertainment centers located in Gangnam. Hyunjin booked the  _ whole  _ center? He remembers going there once during middle school for Hyuck’s birthday party, the admission tickets only covered for arcade and bowling so they weren’t able to experience everything. Renjun didn’t even know that it was possible to book the whole damn center, let alone fathom the cost. 

He inputs the event into his calendar and puts his phone away before a sigh escapes his lips in dismay. He was planning on spending his weekend with takeouts and Korean dramas, not socializing with second generation wealth. At least he’ll have Hyuck and Jaemin there to make it bearable. Renjun unzips his backpack to fetch his drawing tablet. The border surrounding the screen was peppered with scuff marks from countless usage. Even though it’s worn out and two seconds from falling apart, the tablet is still renjun’s prized possession. It contains all of his work, every illustration, design and project since high school, it’s also the very tablet that he’d received from Jeno. 

He couldn’t help but wonder if he’ll see him again at the reunion. 

-

-

-

-

With an iced americano in hand, Jeno push open the glass door to exit the coffee shop. He steps aside when he sees a guy in a black baseball cap ready to enter the cafe and holds the door for him to enter. The guy walks in without even looking up from his phone which makes him mentally roll his eyes. Jeno hears the guy mumble a quiet ‘thank you’ before his eyes spots a familiar tuff of black hair across the intersection. 

“Mark hyung!”

Mark stops walking to turn to look around and sees Jeno waving an arm around at him. He slips his hand out of his pocket and waves back with a grin, the pedestrian signal turns green, signaling Jeno to cross the street. 

“I thought you said you weren’t coming out for lunch today,” Mark says when Jeno is in earshot. Jeno bumps into Mark's shoulder clumsily as he slows his pace to match his, “I just came out to get a cup of coffee,” he holds up his evidence before taking a sip and sighs in content as the cold liquid travels down his parched throat. “I didn’t feel like asking the intern so I went and got it myself,” he takes another sip, “plus, I really needed some fresh air.” The older nods in reply. 

“How’s the project going by the way?” Mark asks as they make their way towards their office building down the street. “I’m kind of worried about being behind schedule, the illustrations are still lacking and it’s driving me nuts.” Jeno replies with a frustrated groan before noisily sipping his bitter drink. 

“How about recruiting a freelancer? We could hold a competition or an ad or something to find one that would suit the project?” Mark suggests helpfully, “I can get my team to create a campaign, and we can post it online and around Hongdae. You’ll get your freelancer in no time.” The marketing team leader sounds confident. 

“You sure Jaehyunie hyung would sign off on that? Aren’t you guys working on other projects?” Jeno doesn’t want mark getting in trouble for spending budget on a campaign that might not amount to anything. 

“Haha, you don’t need to worry about that, you know I’m his favorite out of the rest of his team leaders right?” He boasts proudly. 

“Wow! Someone has Mark hyung as their favorite? I definitely didn’t see that one coming!”

The older chuckles at his sarcastic exasperation before giving his arm a playful shove, “hey, I can’t help that they all love me.” 

Jeno bursts into laughter, “seriously though, the other day, I overheard Jaehyunie hyung and jungwoo hyung debating over who was your favorite,” he says in between laughter. 

Mark could only shake his head at the comicality of it all.

As they near their office building, they decide to discuss the plan in more detail later on that day. The two enter a large building of contemporary design with the words  _ NEO CULTURE TECH,  _ in bright electric green, stamped to the side of the building. They get on the elevator and press their respective floors. Mark leaves Jeno with a wave when the elevator opens on the fifth floor for the marketing team leader. Jeno decides to catch up on the emails he couldn’t get to this morning and notices an email invitation from Hyunjin to a reunion for the 2014 graduates of SM Academy. 

Memories of his high school life flashes through his eyes and he’s reminded of a boy who he used to think about everyday, a snaggletoothed science genius with a passion for art.

The buried memories that he had forgotten during those stressful college years were being dug up and displayed right in front of his eyes. He feels a sense of melancholy as he relives the cherished moments he had with the boy from his past. He wonders if he’s living happily, if he found his dream job, if he’s in a relationship, amongst endless other questions. His thoughts are interrupted when the sound of a synthetic bell rings from the intercom, and the elevator doors parts on the twelfth floor. Pushing the rest of those thoughts back to the back of his mind, he forces himself to focus on his project. 

Jeno has been working tirelessly for the past couple of months on this project. It all started when his proposal got approved, his very first product idea for his father’s company. The chairman would be more than disappointed if his son’s first project does that exceed his expectations, and Jeno is determined to make his father proud. 

His project was to create a series of educational children’s books that would have interactive components for learning math and vocabulary incorporated within it’s story. Each book would come paired with a pencil shaped stylus the readers can use to interact with the book. His production team had already created a working prototype that successfully demonstrates the interaction between the book and its stylus. And with the writers finalizing multiple storyboards, the main problem is the design. Having the right illustration style is crucial so Jeno won’t give up until he finds the perfect design style for the books. The illustrations drafted by the design team were too complex for children under eight years old, and amongst other issues, the team leader was ready to try something new. He decides to take a leap of faith and hopefully find a freelancer that will make his vision into reality. 

 

[4:50PM]

**JENO LEEE** : Hyung, I have an idea I want to run by you.

**JENO LEEE** : my place after work? Chicken and beer on me. 

 

[4:53PM]

**MARK LEEE** : I’m down.

**MARK LEEE** : About to head out so I’ll meet you down at the lobby. 

 

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Critiques are welcome!!


	2. Chapter 2

The roads were crammed with cars of office workers speeding home in a snails pace as the city roads became paralyzed by the late afternoon traffic. They finally arrive at Jeno’s penthouse after sitting in gridlock for half an hour. The luxury apartment was a celebratory gift from his older brother for successfully graduating and entering the company through his own efforts. It has two bedrooms with an amazing view of the Gangnam cityscape. Jeno, living alone,  would often feel that the apartment was too large and empty, so he would always invite Mark or Jaemin to stay over. 

Jeno types in the key code and opens the door to the cool breeze of the air conditioner. Both sighs blissfully before rushing in to escape the stuffy hallway baked by the summer heat. 

 

>

 

“So I was thinking,” Jeno begins as he towels his freshly washed hair. Mark was on his phone but nods in response for him to continue, “going through hundreds or maybe even thousands of applicants would need way too much time and resources, both of which we are short on at the moment—what’re you doing, hyung?” Jeno puckers his lips while his narrowed gaze flickers back and forth between Mark and his phone. “All done,” Mark says before he looks to his pouting friend, “I’m listening buddy, I was just ordering our dinner.” 

“I thought I was buying tonight.”

“You’ve been asking me to buy you food for the past week so I’m buying to shut you up.”

“I want sushi not chicken, hyung.” Jeno’s cheeky reply has mark flinging a pillow at his face, he dodges with a cackle. “Love you!” 

“go on with what you were saying, you brat.”

“Oh yeah,” Jeno clears his throat after his laughter dies down. “I’m thinking about scouting around social media since most young artists promote their artwork on them. Platforms like Instagram or Twitter are really big these days, right? What do you think?” 

Mark looks up at the ceiling and folds his arms while humming thoughtfully. “So you want us to look through these platforms to find a fitting illustrator?” He leans his head back and furrows his brows, skeptical, “doesn’t that seem a bit primitive for such a big project?” 

“I know, but recruitment campaigns are always in favor of artist with privileged backgrounds. Our company already have talents like that so what’s the point?” Jeno sounds a little frustrated. 

Before Mark could reply, Jeno cuts in, “I want to at least try, let’s give it a couple of days. If we don’t find anything by then, then we’ll go with your plan.” He negotiates while looking at mark expectantly. 

“Alright, you seem confident. let's do it. You want to start right now?” Mark agreed more readily than Jeno thought. He smiles brightly and nods his head in excitement. 

“Okay, first, let’s figure out a list of hashtags to look into.” Jeno swipes his phone off of the coffee table and opens up the image sharing app. 

After around twenty minutes of browsing through Instagram and compiling a short list of search parameters, they are interrupted by the doorbell. Jeno jumps up to his feet before bouncing to the door chanting  _ chicken chicken chicken  _ all the way, only to swing open the door to reveal a head of caramel colored hair framing an all too familiar face. 

“Nana?” Surprise evident in his face, his friend at the door widens his smile and wiggles his brows. Jeno narrows his eyes in suspicion, “what do you want? You never barge into my house without notice, without an agenda—and you know my passcode, why did you ring the doorbell? I thought you were our delivery guy!” He adds the last part in irritation. 

Jaemin raises both of his hands to show him the bags occupying his hands in response. “Save some stomach room, gentlemen, I’ve brought dessert.” He winks before walking pass Jeno to enter the living room. Jeno stares at the back of Jaemin’s head incredulously and wonders why he still considers the devil his bestest friend. He turns and jumps in surprise at the sudden appearance of a teen sporting a brightly colored uniform. “Holy f—jeez, kid you scared me.” Jeno clutches a hand over his thudding heart. 

“Your chicken delivery have arrived, have a delicious meal, sir.” The young worker recites robotically with a bow and gives Jeno his order before running swiftly down the hall. 

Jeno comes back into the living room to find the coffee table occupied with boxes and boxes of pastries. He lets out a moan in dread, “not again, Nana I swear,” plopping down next to the coffee table, Jeno places his chicken on the plush rug, “if you keep force feeding us your calorie bomb pastries like this we are gonna overdose on sugar, nana…” he wails dramatically. The pastries were delicious but he’s worried about his abs losing definition after working so hard to get them. He looks at Mark and shares a despairing moment. 

“Calm down pal, I promise this is the last batch. Your six pack will survive through this.” Jaemin says, as if he could read jeno’s mind. He proceeds to open his boxes of cakes and tarts to present to Mark what each of them are before they could respond or reject. 

After filling their bellies with chicken, beer, and delicious sweets, and making Jaemin clean up the mess, the two went back to business. Jaemin sits down on the armchair next to them to see them in full business mode, which is always a bit intimidating.

“Jaemin, you use Instagram right?” Mark asked, thinking they need another pair of eyes to help them. 

Jaemin quirks a brow, intrigued at the sudden question, “of course, I use it all the time. I even have a page to promote my cafe. Why?” 

“Nice! Ok, do you follow any illustrators? We’re trying to find a freelancer for his project.” Mark points his thumb towards jeno’s nodding head. 

“Oh, illustrators? I actually follow quite a lot of them,” Jaemin eyes brightens, “I actually have a friend who happens to be an amazing graphics designer and illustrator. He—” he cuts himself off before setting cautious eyes to the couch. Jeno looks back at him, confused at the sudden behavior. “He what?”

Jaemin bites his lips in contemplation and vaguely hears the snapping sound of Mark’s habit as they wait for him to continue. The two have no idea of the repercussions—not even Jaemin knows what would happen if he decides to do what he’s about to do.

 

**< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<——**

>  
> 
> “Let’s break up.”
> 
> Jaemin stopped walking and knitted his brows when he heard the unmistakable voice of his best friend. “The hell?” He whispered to himself, beyond confused. As far as he knew, jeno was not in a relationship. He had rejected every single confession he’d gotten and never mentioned liking anybody.
> 
> “W-what? What are you talking about all of a sudden?” 
> 
> His eyes widen in interest, expecting the reply to come from a girl, the voice was a bit muffled but he thought the voice sounded familiar. 
> 
> They were hidden behind a row of trees that bordered the back corner of the school walls that encloses the campus. Jaemin was pressed to the side of the building that borders the other side of the enclosure, he inches closer to hear better. 
> 
> “It’s just not going to work out for us, and you know it. Why bother dragging out the inevitable?” 
> 
> Jaemin could hear the pain in his voice, it’s not something he had heard before in the fifteen years he’s known him. 
> 
> “We discussed about this, you were the one who convinced me that it didn’t matter…” the other boy’s voice had began to quiver but there was anger laced in it. 
> 
> A sniffle broke the silence before jeno spoke, and what he said sent goosebumps down his body. 
> 
> “My grades are slipping, Renjun, I’m spending all my free time with you and if it continues, I won’t be able to get into Ivy League. My dad would be pissed, he’s already on my ass about my grades.” He heard jeno spewed out in between huffs of frustration and he was barely able to hold in a gasp from escaping through his hand when he heard Renjun’s name. 
> 
> “I should’ve known this would happen. I thought you were braver than this, Jeno. You don’t need to worry, if you think I'm holding you back, I’ll let go.” Bitterness and anger now clear in his voice. 
> 
> “Goodbye Jeno. I hope you get into your dream school.”
> 
> The sound of footsteps on grass followed the hollow farewell, Jaemin dashed away as quietly as he could after hearing the footsteps getting closer. 

 

**—— >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>**

 

Jaemin had seen how much it had affected the both of them, he knew that the breakup changed Jeno. He barely smiled in his last semester of high school, not even when he graduated. When he came back home this year, Jaemin could tell that the Jeno he knew since childhood was back, that he had moved on. Would it be right to risk that by bringing Renjun back into his life? 

His heart sinks a little at the thought of his other friend. The friend that made Jeno’s absence for the past five years virtually painless. Other than the handful of fruitless dates set up by family or friends, Jaemin has never seen renjun date or even take an interest in anyone, and he has no doubt that the main reason had something to do with Jeno. 

“EARTH TO JAEMIN!” 

He yelps in pain at the sudden loud vibration of his ear drums. “Ow! Are you’re trying to make me deaf? Huh? Is that what you want, Jeno?”

“Sorry but you kind of zoned out mid sentence, and for a second there, I thought you were a robot malfunctioning.” Jeno is still laughing at Jaemin’s reaction while mark shakes his head at their immaturity. 

“Anyway, as I was saying, I have a friend whose a freelancing artist,” Jaemin pulls up the Instagram page to show them. He bites his lips in hesitation but he’d already made up his mind, “here’s his Instagram page, it’s sort of his portfolio, have a look.” 

Jeno catches his phone in the air and motions for Mark to come closer to assess the illustrations. Jaemin nibs on the tip of his thumb nail in anticipation as he looks intently at Jeno for any sort of reaction. The first thing Jeno sees is the user profile icon, it was just the color yellow, the shade of yellow you would use to color the sun as a child, it was a warm and comforting color. He scrolls down to the colorful thumbnails of artwork and was quite impressed with the dynamic styles the illustrator was able to bring to life. Within the numerous styles, there was one that caught his attention the most. Illustrations of animals and characters through pristine lines and bright colors, and each design was unique and interesting while at the same time simple and familiar. He glanced over to see Mark nodding in approval before scrolling up to the top,  **YELLOW** was the name of the page and under the user icon, it simply said:

 

HRJ

Graphic designer and Illustrator 

Freelancer

yellowRJ@naver.com

 

“Okay, lets shoot him an email to see if he’s interested. We can keep looking just in case this one doesn’t work out.” Mark suggests before jotting down the email on a stack of sticky notes. Jeno nods in agreement before turning his attention to Jaemin, “So you know this artist? Like, you’ve met him?” 

“Yes, very nice guy, and  _ very  _ nice to look at.” Jaemin says the last part while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Jeno, only for him to roll his eyes. 

“This isn’t a blind date setup Nana, I’m trying to find a business partner, not a date.” Jeno says while pulling out the laptop from his briefcase. 

_ Right, he’s still in business mode.  _ Jaemin forgot how serious he could be when it comes to his career. “Hey, I’m just saying he’s really pretty. No one’s saying anything about a date — anyways,” he waves his hand around dismissively before getting up, “it’s getting late, I’m gonna go.” 

“You don’t want to stay over?” Jeno asks out of habit, barely listening for an answer as he types away on his laptop. 

Jaemin is already at the door, slipping on his sneakers. “Wish I could, but I have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to volunteer at the elderly home tomorrow.” 

-

-

-

-

_ [“I really want to kill her.”] _

Renjun gasps, his wide eyes glued to the screen, unblinking. A pillow held tightly against his chest is the only barrier against the horrors that is currently unfolding in the drama. When the climax of the episode was about to happen, an email notification window drops down. He clicks his tongue in irritation at the disruption before pausing the show, “there’s only a few minutes left, you couldn’t have popped up five minutes later?” He whines before opening the email. When he sees the subject line, any thoughts about the drama flew out the window. 

“NEO CULTURE TECH?!” 

Renjun rereads the line over and over, his eyes rapidly blinking away any possible hallucinations. “How did a tech giant find my email?” He voices his thoughts aloud in bewilderment before clicking open the email. 

 

———————————————————

**To:** **yellowRJ** **@naver.com**

**From:** **Lee.J99000102@nctco.com**

**Subject: FREELANCE WORK REQUEST FROM NCT CO.**

 

**Hello,**

**Our company is currently in the process of creating a line of products that relies heavily on illustrations. We recently found your page on Instagram and believe your illustration style to be what we are looking for. We would really like for you to join our team so please reply to this email if you are interested. We really hope to hear from you soon.**

 

**Thank you**

**Lee Jeno**

**Team Leader**

**R &D department**

**Neo Culture Technology CO.**

 

**————————————————————**

A sharp intake of breath disrupts the quiet room as his heart skips a beat. His eyes reread the sender’s name over and over again and wishes that he really  _ was  _ hallucinating. 

Maybe this is a phishing mail, maybe someone is trying to scam him. It has to be, because if this is real, he doesn’t know how to handle it. 

  
  


~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the typos and errors! Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know your thoughts! Critiques are welcome!


End file.
